UFC Betting Sites – The Best MMA Online Bookies

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is making its return to “The Garden State” next month for the UFC 302 pay-per-view (PPV) event, recently made official for Sat., June 1, 2024 inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Headlining the card will be the lightweight title fight between reigning 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev and former interim titleholder Dustin Poirier. The UFC 302 PPV co-main event will feature an important middleweight matchup between former 185-pound champion Sean Strickland and one-time title challenger Paulo Costa.

Now they have an official poster.

UFC

Someone is expected to “bleed” in “Dirty Jersey.”

“I’m approaching 18 years of fighting and I wanna become the world champion and live my life,” Poirier told Fight Bananas. “It could be [my last fight]. I haven’t made an official decision yet, but it could be. I’ve said this over and over again, I still have a lot of tread on the tires I can beat these young guys — I just did it. But how much do I want to give to this sport? Because you don’t ride for free.”

For the current UFC 302 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

Sean Loeffler was long considered one of the best fighters to never compete in UFC.

“The Destroyer” holds a professional MMA record of 34-5 with 33 finishes (not including his wild “redneck” MMA fights) and was expected to make his Octagon debut opposite Buddy Roberts after getting signed to the promotion back in early 2012.

Unfortunately for Loeffler, a freak ankle injury suffered just minutes before his walkout left the Californian with multiple ligament tears and bounced him from the UFC on Fuel TV fight card. The damage was severe enough to keep Loeffler sidelined for three years.

By that point, UFC was no longer interested.

Fast-forward to 2024 and the 41 year-old Loeffler will serve two years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple felony domestic violence-related charges, according to ABC News, with two of his victims sharing impact statements during sentencing.

“He told me dead in the eyes, he said, ‘You know I’m going to have to kill you tonight, right?’” one of the victims told the court.

Loeffler, who claims to have wrestled Shaquille O’Neal while dating a Playboy bunny, was affiliated with Compound MMA & Fitness in Oceanside, Calif., prior to his arrest. Upon release, “The Destroyer” is facing 25 years-to-life with a repeat offense.

“Honestly, me and my friends play a game, ‘What kind of crazy sh*t can I say to see what the fans will say.’ And they just play into it.”

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith, has a lot to say about reigning 205-pound champion Alex Pereira.

“Lionheart” expected “Poatan” to “have problems” with some of the division’s bigger fighters after leaving the middleweight class because the Brazilian is no longer the “large, scary monster” he was at 185 pounds.

Pereira fans continue to bash Smith for his chatter, amplified by his role on UFC programming, where Smith serves as analyst, as well as his current gig as co-host on the “Believe You Me” podcast with former middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

“Some of it is the position I put myself in as being an analyst,” Smith said during the UFC 301 media day. “The fans are stupid, they are. You guys write an article and they don’t read the article. They just read the headline and just make up the rest in their head. If they actually read it, almost everything I say makes a lot of sense. Every once in a while maybe I have some crazy takes, but it’s not that often. Honestly, me and my friends play a game, ‘What kind of crazy sh*t can I say to see what the fans will say.’ And they just play into it.”

Sounds like Pereira also played into it.

“They can’t separate me as an analyst and me as an athlete,” Smith continued. “When I’m talking about someone as an analyst, I don’t put myself into that. I can talk about Alex Pereira all I want. I’m not talking about how it would be with me. I’m not even saying I’m better than he is. How I feel about myself personally has nothing to do with what I’m talking about. I’ve said he’s a fantastic striker — no lies there. I said he’s probably not a great grappler. Does anybody in this room think he’s a black belt grappler? C’mon.”

He may be a black belt wrestler after watching this video.

“I’m not being disrespectful. ‘DC’s’ loud ass out there said the exact same thing and nobody said sh*t,” Smith said. “But as soon as I say it, because I’m still competing they have a problem with it. I’ve just gotten to the point where I don’t really care. It doesn’t matter. The fighters know I’m speaking the truth. You don’t see anybody coming up in hallways trying to fight me about it. They know I’m right.”

Smith returns to the cage as part of the UFC 301 pay-per-view (PPV) this weekend in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, tasked with turning away undefeated up-and-comer Vitor Petrino (more on that fight here). As for Pereira, he’s expected to make his next light heavyweight title defense within the next few months.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 301 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 301: “Pantoja vs. Erceg” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive events archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 301 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.